


Fate Be Changed

by genovianprince



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adam is a dumbass, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Background shiro/keith - Freeform, Lotor Is Good Actually, Multi, Red String of Fate, Soulmates, he is a stupid boy when it comes to love, s6? what's that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 09:51:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19060246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/genovianprince/pseuds/genovianprince
Summary: The strings of fate are fickle, and Adam can't tell whether he loves it or hates it. The way that fate changes might be a good thing, though.At least he can take comfort in the fact that Shiro lived through the Kerberos mission, even though their string won't ever be the same again.At least the presence of two new strings means he isn't broken.Right?





	Fate Be Changed

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NoirSongbird](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoirSongbird/gifts).



> Happy birthday, Song!! I hope you enjoy this fic, ily <3

The strings of fate were fickle, Adam thought idly as he twirled them around his fingers. Being mostly intangible, they were easily manipulated, but fell through to their normal position after only a few moments. Red for romantic soulmates, and purple for platonic ones. Romantic-red, platonic-purple. It was poetic, that way.  
  
He snorted to himself. Once upon a time, he’d had a red string. It had led him straight to Takashi Shirogane. At first, he couldn’t believe that fate had decreed he’d be soulmates with his _rival._ How stupid. He hadn’t believed in fate, then. But gradually, Takashi had worn down his walls and Adam believe in fate, after all. The fates had been right about his Kashi, and they were probably amused at how Adam had vehemently denied them.  
  
Only two years later, though, the string had frayed. Nearly snapped. Their last fight had just about done it in.  
  
Then Takashi went on the mission and fucking _died._ To Adam’s sheer surprise, the string hadn’t broken. In fact, some weeks after, it had strengthened. Though it turned purple, Adam didn’t mind. It meant Kashi was alive. That they’d meet again, someday.  
  
God, it sucked that only those a string was connected to could see it. But it was probably for the best. At least Iverson believed Adam about the string. And the rest of Shiro’s family — his aunts Satomi and Naoko. It’d taken considerable effort on their part (and Keith’s) to pull Adam out of his post-Kerberos depression and self-isolation, and as much as he hadn’t appreciated it at the time, he was grateful for it now. Having a support network. It was weird, but… worth it. He didn’t exactly have _friends,_ but… _family_ was nice.  
  
Honestly, a big part of Adam not falling entirely to the depression and self-isolation was his promise to look out for Keith while Shiro was gone. He had a purple string with Keith, but even if he hadn’t, his word was important to him.  
  
It was a long time before his two strings changed. Time enough for a year to pass after Shiro’s “death”, and then time enough for a year to pass after the disappearance of three cadets and former cadet Keith.  
  
To Adam’s great surprise, two red strings were added to his fingers one day. _Four._ He had _four_ soulmates. Two platonic, two romantic. The symmetry was pretty nice. Even if Veronica wouldn’t shut up about him taking better care of himself so he’d actually meet these people one day. Training the MFE Squad was strenuous, even with a partner, and he wanted to make sure they’d be able to survive what the universe was trying to throw at them.   
  
_Aliens._ Who would have thought, huh? Shiro always believed in aliens — shit, Adam still owed him twenty bucks. If Shiro even wanted to see him. Despite the proof on his fingers that Shiro probably did want that, Adam couldn’t help but catastrophize the issue. What if the fates were jerking him around? What if they were wrong? What if Adam was some kind of crazy anomaly?  
  
Veronica liked to tell him to “stop being such a stupid moron about it”, to which Adam usually had no reply. He used to have one — “I’m your superior officer and you shouldn’t talk to me that way” — but then she’d gone and gotten promoted, so that was out.  
  
Adam sighed as he forced himself out of bed for the day. Another long day of training was ahead of him and the MFEs, and he couldn’t be late because he was laying around in bed contemplating the possibilities of meeting his new soulmates.   
  
Then, y’know, getting called into an emergency meeting with a broadcast from the very Voltron that Sam Holt told them about sort of blew everything out of the water for the day.  
  
*****  
  
Any kind of “getting formalities out of the way” that Adam thought might happen after the Castle of Lions landed… didn’t happen. It seemed as if Shiro had decided that all that had been taken care of during the vidchat, because as soon as the doors opened, Shiro ran down the stairs and swept Adam up in a hug. Adam couldn’t help the startled laugh that left him as he hugged back.  
  
“I’m so glad you’re alive,” he choked out breathlessly.  
  
“Yeah, me too,” Shiro breathed, “You probably wouldn’t believe me if I told you that I _did_ die. And then came back. After, uh, a few months. But my essence was still around, I still had my strings...”  
  
Adam pulled back to stare at Shiro disbelievingly. “You outright _died,_ for _months,_ and you came back?”  
  
Shiro winced. “That’s, uh. Not how I wanted to tell you? Or how I wanted our first meeting after Kerberos to go? But, essentially, yes. Alien magic is, uh, pretty… Pretty something.”  
  
Adam blinked. “Takashi… What the hell.”  
  
Shiro smiled weakly, and Adam couldn’t help but hug him again.   
  
“You’re a dingus. But I don’t care. We’ve… got a lot to talk about. But for now, I’m just glad you’re alright.”  
  
Shiro sagged into the hug. “Yeah. Adam, I… I’m so sorry.”  
  
“No, _I_ am,” Adam said, pulling back again and cupping Shiro’s face in his hands (oh fuck, Shiro had gotten taller. And more muscular). “I pushed you away when you needed me most.”  
  
Shiro sighed, placing one hand on Adam’s cheek and the other over one of Adam’s hands no his own cheek. “And I pushed back just as hard. You were just trying to care about me, and I was… Really awful about it.”  
  
“And I could have trusted you to know yourself better. Despite your track record. Your test results were coming back okay, all outside evidence was saying you could do it, and I…” Adam sighed. “It’s both our faults, isn’t it?”  
  
Shiro chuckled. “Yeah, just a bit.”  
  
“Maybe we can forgive each other and just… be friends again. I’m sure you noticed our string is purple. I don’t want to lose you for good.”  
  
“Neither do I. I’m sticking around this time, I swear it.” Shiro smiled.  
  
Someone cleared their throat nearby and they jumped apart, both looking to Iverson with sheepish looks on their faces.  
  
“If you two are done, we have important business to talk about,” he said dryly, “Right after I say hi to my godson.” Moments later, Iverson (“Uncle Mitch”) and Shiro were in their own tearful reunion, leaving Adam to survey the others who’d gone missing and their alien ( _alien!_ ) companions.  
  
The Holts were still reuniting together. Lance and Veronica were chatting (yelling, really) nonstop at each other without taking a breath, it seemed, even as the rest of their family enveloped them in hugs. Hunk was with his parents.  
  
Keith was standing awkwardly off to the side, along with several aliens. Admiral Sanda was already talking with them, but it… didn’t really look good. Adam strode over and enveloped Keith in a warm hug, liberating at least one of the poor people stuck in the awkward “official first contact” conversation.  
  
“I’m glad you made it, Keith,” Adam murmured.  
  
Keith smiled and leaned into the hug. “Yeah, me too It’s good to see you, Adam. I never… got to thank you for all that you did for me after Shiro was gone.”  
  
“It was nothing, Keith. Also, not to sound like a random crazy aunt at a family reunion, but when did you get so freaking big? And your hair is so long!” Adam noted, tugging at it playfully.  
  
Keith scoffed and pulled away. “No more Garrison standards to keep up with. I like it long. And, actually, uh. I ended up being in this time vacuum sort of thing, blah blah blah, a week passed for everyone else but for me and my mom, it was two years. Apparently with proper nutrition, who knew, I wasn’t scrawny and small.”  
  
“Yes, well — your mom?!” Adam blinked.  
  
Krolia smiled and stepped forward. “I’m Keith’s mother, yes.”  
  
“Oh, I see the resemblance.”  
  
“No shock over my mom being an alien?” Keith arched a brow.  
  
“Honestly? No. I’d only be surprised if you didn’t look like her, and frankly, it’s obvious.” Adam shrugged and held out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, miss...?”  
  
“Krolia. Just Krolia,” she said, grabbing Adam’s forearm.  
  
It took a split-second for Adam to adjust, but he squeezed back and smiled gently. “And I’m Lt. Commander Adam West, but since you’re family, just Adam is fine.”  
  
Krolia nodded, stepping back.  
  
“Hey, Adam? By the way?”  
  
Adam turned back to Keith with a concerned look. “Yeah?”  
  
Keith gnawed slightly on his bottom lip. “Listen, I… Shiro and I, we… Our string turned red. We’re, uh. Together.”  
  
“Well, that’s, uh. Not entirely unexpected?” Adam admitted, “I figured something like that would happen while Shiro was out there. Our string turned purple a long time ago, Keith. There’s no hard feelings. I’m just glad you two are happy.”  
  
He had to quell the feelings of inadequacy either way, remind himself that he did have romantic soulmates, he wasn’t broken, he’d meet them. He would. With aliens existing, it wouldn’t be all that hard, he was sure.  
  
Keith smiled. “Thanks. That means a lot,” he said sincerely.  
  
Adam smiled back, reaching up to push his glasses back up his nose, only to stare at his fingers in shock. The red strings had changed their positions. Instead of leading out towards the sky, they’d levelled out.  
  
His soulmates were on ground level.  
  
He followed one of the strings with his eyes, noting that they both, actually, were leading to the same spot. His heartrate jumped up, mouth dry, tongue feeling oddly swollen as he looked over at his soulmates.  
  
At Lance introducing Lotor to his family, and their intertwined hands, and tangled strings.   
  
_Oh._  
  
Adam swallowed. Okay, that was definitely unexpected. Emperor of the known universe and a former cadet. That was. Wow.   
  
A distant part of him was asking _why Lance_ and thinking about how much trouble the loudmouth had gotten himself into, but the strings didn’t lie. It must have appeared for a good reason, and Adam suspected being thrown into an alien war on the frontlines would force someone to grow up very quickly or else die.  
  
And as Lance wasn’t dead, Adam was interested in learning all about who Lance was as a person, instead of working off old biases from a teaching and commanding officer point of view.   
  
But other parts of him were screaming about how he shouldn’t interfere, because Lance and Lotor were clearly already together, and Lotor was just _way the hell out of his league_ **_anyway,_** and—  
  
He blinked at the hand waving in his face and refocused. “Keith?”  
  
“Why are you staring at Lance and Lotor?”  
  
“Uh, my strings…” Adam clamped his mouth shut. He really hadn’t intended for that to slip.   
  
Keith raised his brows, looking from Adam, to Lance and Lotor, and back again. “It’s red for both of them, isn’t it?” he asked unnervingly.  
  
Adam really couldn’t backtrack at this point, so he just sighed and nodded slightly. “Yes. But they’re already happy together, obviously. I’m sure you’ve seen them in action. I’d just be messing everything up, like I did with Takashi.”  
  
Keith rolled his eyes. “Adam. They aren’t Shiro, if you hadn’t noticed. It’ll be all new experiences.”  
  
“All new ways for me to screw up, then.”  
  
“... _Krahvenkhil,_ they’ve been wanting to meet their mysterious new third for the longest time. You may as well give it a try. They’re going to know who it is sooner or later. You might as well try and get to know them. Yeah, you’ll screw up. They’ll screw up too. But hopefully you guys will talk it out instead of just hurling insults, ultimatums, and generally being a _krahvenkhil_ about it. If there’s anything I learned out there? It’s that communication is important. And if you don’t communicate, then you’ll never get anywhere.”  
  
Adam pursed his lips. “When did you get to be so smart and intimidating?” he asked with a soft laugh, “I suppose… I may as well try. You’re right, Keith.” He paused. “Does this kraken-vil word mean anything you can translate?”  
  
Keith snorted. “ _Krahvenkhil_ means ‘fuckhead’, basically. I like to use it for Shiro, or anyone else who deserves it, like certain Adams who shall remain nameless.”  
  
Adam huffed at him, shaking his head. “Alright, I get your point already.” He sighed, taking a step forward, and was immediately subverted by Admiral Sanda starting to herd everyone inside for meetings.   
  
Great.  
  
*****  
  
Lotor sighed deeply. They’d been on Terra for a week, fortifying its defenses all over the planet, instead of just a few key spaces (AKA, the Garrison strongholds), and he was going absolutely mad.   
  
His and Lance’s third was on this blasted planet _somewhere_ and Lotor really did not appreciate being made to wait. Yes, their work was incredibly important, and Terra needed the protection, considering the Voltron Paladins were from there and highly sought after by anybody who hated Voltron. Still, he wished that they could have a day off to hunt down their soulmate.   
  
He sighed deeply, causing Lance to look up at him.  
  
“What’s up, buttercup?” he asked, concern written all over his face.  
  
“Nothing, _majramano_ , just… thinking about our mysterious third. How they’re so elusive.” Lotor carded his fingers through Lance’s hair.  
  
Lance hummed and leaned more into Lotor’s side. “I know. It sucks ass,” he complained, “I barely got a break on day one to see my family for what, five minutes? And we’ve been having to go do tours and…” He groaned. “I thought coming home would be so much different than this. I still haven’t been able to take you to Varadero Beach. And what, once we’re done making sure Earth is okay and building a backup castleship, we’re just going to go back into space and try to hunt down Sendak and Haggar and… _More_ protecting the universe stuff? Can’t we please, just… have a week off? Or two? Maybe a whole month where we don’t do much but fill out some paperwork and delegate everything else? I hate this, _miel._ I really, really hate it. We’re gonna suffer burnout eventually, why not, like, y’know? Pre-empt it and make sure it doesn’t actually happen?”  
  
Lotor switched from merely petting Lances’ hair to giving him a one-handed scalp massage. “I understand, my love, I do. I have my generals, after all. I’m sure we could run things well from a distance. We’ve plenty of people on our side, many of whom I can place trust in. Perhaps once we’re done ensuring Terra’s safety, we can make a demand for vacation. After all, they can hardly say no after our gestures of goodwill. And then, _majramano,_ we will find our third. We will spend time with your family. I’m sure Acxa and Veronica will enjoy the time getting to know each other as well.” He smirked.  
  
Lance chuckled softly. “Yeah. I love you, Lo.”  
  
“I love you too, Lance.” Lotor pulled Lance closer and kissed him.   
  
It was just starting to get heated when Lotor’s pager went off and he groaned.  
  
“Really, it’s as if they don’t trust Allura to handle anything,” he complained, kissing Lance’s forehead as he stood.  “Your government sure enjoys wasting people’s time.”  
  
“Ugh, tell me about it. Good luck, babe, I’m gonna go scrounge up some dinner.” Lance stood as well, stretching out, and Lotor walked away before he was too tempted by Lance’s rising shirt to stay back instead of take care of business.  
  
*****  
  
Finally, their vacation had begun, and Lance woke up bright and early (ew). He still wasn’t a morning person until he went through his routine, but even so, today felt _special._ He just knew it would happen today. He and Lotor would track down the third that was eluding them.  
  
After rousing Lotor and forcing him into some casual clothing, they were off, back to the main Garrison where Lance had trained all that long ago. That was where the string was leading them.  
  
Scoping out where exactly this person was on the campus was proving difficult, though. Too many hallways and the strings ignored physics like walls. It was the world’s most frustrating maze where the exit seemed to be constantly moving.  
  
Grinding his teeth at the latest dead end, Lance exhaled harshly, inhaled deeply, and tried to control his anger at the situation. They’d get it eventually. They would. They _had_ to.  
  
Lotor’s hand on his shoulder gave him a small boost, knowing he wasn’t alone in it. Together, they forged on, looking at maps and trying to figure out what was behind which wall to choose their next destination.  
  
Eventually, their path took them down a disused hallway, where they could hear some distinct yelling.  
  
Immediately apprehensive, Lance crept forward slowly, ducked low. Then he realized that one of the voices was Keith’s and he immediately gave up on sneaking as if it were a fight and began eavesdropping as he inched closer.  
  
“Adam. You _need_ to tell them,” Keith said angrily, “We’ve all finally gotten a bit of a break, and it’s high time you quit avoiding it! I thought we talked about this!”  
  
“I think they deserve to have some time to themselves first,” said this Adam guy insistently, “You just said this is the first real break they’ve had in a long time, so—”  
  
Keith’s loud groan interrupted Adam, and Lance picked this fine opportunity to straighten up and open the door to intervene in this fight.  
  
“Hi guys,” he said cheerfully, “Just wondering, have you seen anyone running around like they’re following their string? Because Lotor and I, uh…” Lance trailed off, looking at the end of his string and Lotor’s string.  
  
At Adam’s fingers.  
  
“Lt. Commander West?” Lance said in disbelief, holding up his hand, “It’s… you? You’re our…?”  
  
Adam looked like he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole, or maybe in pieces, but he nodded slowly. “Yes, I… I was waiting for the right time…”  
  
“You knew.” Lotor raised a delicate brow.  
  
“Yes. Ever since you all first landed back on Earth,” Adam admitted, “You two were already talking to Lance’s family, and it hardly seemed like the appropriate time, and then diplomatic issues and the protection of Earth rose up too quickly, and it seemed like it was too important to bother you two about yet—”  
  
“Do you want us?” Lance interrupted, staring Adam in the eye.  
  
Adam inhaled slowly. “I want to try,” he finally said in a whisper, “To at least get to know you two… I’ve been wanting something like this for so long, but I didn’t know how to approach it, especially with you two being who you are…”  
  
“Yeah, yeah, former cadet, real scary,” Lance joked, “Y’know, I knew Lotor when he was just a prince, and he’s exactly the same. And if this former cadet could confront a prince, then I think a commanding officer can confront the emperor.”  
  
Adam chuckled. “You’re more than a former cadet, Lance. You’re a Paladin of Voltron. Hero of the universe?”  
  
Lotor smiled, slipping an arm over Lance’s shoulders. “It’s funny how he forgets it, when from what I hear, he very much refused to let anyone around him forget it, in the beginning.”  
  
“Hey, I’m right here,” Lance complained. “Ugh. Now I have another person to join the gang-ups on me, this is _not_ fair.”  
  
“I could leave,” Adam offered, and instantly regretted it when Lance marched over with fire in his eyes.  
  
Lance grabbed Adam by the collar and pulled him into a deep kiss, barely registering Keith’s sound of surprise (oh, right, he was still in the room, oops) and Lotor’s short laugh. “Nope,” he declared as he pulled back, staring Adam in the eye, “You’re not going anywhere. You’re with me and Lotor now, and we’re going to go on dates, _Mami_ will adopt you into the family, and things are gonna be great. I’ve been waiting too long to find out who you are to just tell you to fuck off without taking a chance.”  
  
Adam stuttered slightly, tongue-tied, but eventually managed to say, “Wow, I really wasn’t expecting that, but that was… _wow._ Okay. I think I can handle that, _Lance._ Just remember to call me Adam, since I’m not your CO anymore. Unless you like that sort of thing, but it might be best if left in the bedroom.”  
  
Lance gaped.  
  
Lotor came up to them, wrapping them both in a hug with Lance sandwiched in the middle. “Oh, I assure you, he quite enjoys that sort of play.”  
  
_“Lotor!”_ __  
__  
“Okay, I’m out of here, if you guys want to fuck in a classroom, I’m not witnessing it,” Keith said, turning on his heel and leaving the room.  
  
Lance squeaked, thoroughly embarrassed, and then Adam gave him a cocky grin, and he knew that these two soulmates of his would be the death of him.  
  
*****  
  
As for Keith? He just knew Shiro would get a kick out of hearing that Adam needed a taste of his own medicine when it came to forcefully shoving his tongue down someone’s (Shiro’s) throat to get them to get the damn point that __yes, the strings were right and they wanted nothing more than to trust the things.  
  
Adam was most certainly in for a good round of well-deserved teasing.


End file.
